Ubisoft, which let's face it had a good 2007 with Assassin's Creed, has announced its sales figures from the last quarter of last year. They are good - we'll show you them later. Within the document, however, was news that futuristic, anti-corporate, drug combat FPS, Haze from UK dev' Free Radical has slipped again.
The last time we had to say this was the 21st of November 2007, when we reported that both Haze and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction were slipping. In the case of Haze, this was supposed to slip to, "the fourth fiscal quarter".
We're now told, "Haze, which was originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2007-08, will now be released in fiscal 2008-09"- and that's all. We're not even told which quarter!
Finally as promised, however, here's what we're told about cash money:
"Sales for the third quarter of 2007-08 came to €450 million, up 44.4%, or 50.1% at constant exchange rates, compared with the €311 million recorded for the same period of 2006-07. Sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2007-08 totaled €711 million versus €483 million in the corresponding period of 2006-07, representing an increase of 47.2%, or 52.1% at constant exchange rates".
What made a deal of that lucre was Assassin's Creed which, "In Europe... was the best-selling game in 2007 for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and the number 2 best-seller for the Xbox 360 system.
"In the United States, it was the second best-selling game in 2007 for the PlayStation 3computer entertainment system and the number 3 best-seller for the Xbox 360 system".
Don't forget to check out our Haze developer Interview, over here - and our game preview, which can be found right here.
The last time we had to say this was the 21st of November 2007, when we reported that both Haze and Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction were slipping. In the case of Haze, this was supposed to slip to, "the fourth fiscal quarter".
We're now told, "Haze, which was originally scheduled for the fourth quarter of 2007-08, will now be released in fiscal 2008-09"- and that's all. We're not even told which quarter!
Finally as promised, however, here's what we're told about cash money:
"Sales for the third quarter of 2007-08 came to €450 million, up 44.4%, or 50.1% at constant exchange rates, compared with the €311 million recorded for the same period of 2006-07. Sales for the first nine months of fiscal 2007-08 totaled €711 million versus €483 million in the corresponding period of 2006-07, representing an increase of 47.2%, or 52.1% at constant exchange rates".
What made a deal of that lucre was Assassin's Creed which, "In Europe... was the best-selling game in 2007 for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and the number 2 best-seller for the Xbox 360 system.
"In the United States, it was the second best-selling game in 2007 for the PlayStation 3computer entertainment system and the number 3 best-seller for the Xbox 360 system".
Don't forget to check out our Haze developer Interview, over here - and our game preview, which can be found right here.
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Comments
Bentley 23 Jan 2008 18:58
1/4
Wow, that's some slippage.
However, hopefully Free Radical are using the time to polish their game... The problem with first-person shooters at the moment is that Call of Duty raised the bar, in terms of graphics, controls and story-telling... every other FPS since has looked and felt awful. Even the "mighty" Half Life 2 looks and plays crap next to CoD4. I think the whole FPS genre has been taken aback by the overall splendidness of CoD...
Maybe they'll even work on a decent online lobby system, which is the main flaw of CoD... hopefully you'll even be able to play games with your friends without trying in vain for 2-3 hours before giving up in frustration too.
However, hopefully Free Radical are using the time to polish their game... The problem with first-person shooters at the moment is that Call of Duty raised the bar, in terms of graphics, controls and story-telling... every other FPS since has looked and felt awful. Even the "mighty" Half Life 2 looks and plays crap next to CoD4. I think the whole FPS genre has been taken aback by the overall splendidness of CoD...
Maybe they'll even work on a decent online lobby system, which is the main flaw of CoD... hopefully you'll even be able to play games with your friends without trying in vain for 2-3 hours before giving up in frustration too.
thomas logic 23 Jan 2008 19:44
2/4
Logically speaking, this has been delayed to polish, for Home! Let hope so anyway as Home is coming out soon. And I totally agree with Bently's post, COD4 has totally raised the FPS bar for control, visuals, and how it draws you into the game completely. UFB, logically.
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RIPRAW 23 Jan 2008 20:56
3/4
I agree that COD4 is the best FPS at the moment. But I rather like it's multiplayer lobby system. I admit that it can be rather frustrating when the host quits (hopefully they will incorporate quick host changing). But when you match up with a good group of people you can have hours of uninterrupted fun. I tried playing Halo the other day and was so frustrated in the time it took to join and start a game (5 minutes or so). At least when the host quits in COD you can be playing another game in 30 seconds.
config 24 Jan 2008 11:48
4/4
Bentley wrote:
Wow, that's some slippage.
Not necessarily.
Originally scheduled for fiscal Q3 07/08 (November 2007 actual) it slipped into fiscal Q4 07/08, (Q1 2008 actual, any time between Jan-March).
So this latest slip into "fiscal 08/09" could be a delay as little as one week - if the last plan was for a March release, moving it to April would make fiscal 08/09.
Of course, Ubi could release in March 2009 - but why would it? My belief is that the last delays were to ensure the game was thoroughly polished.
This delay is nothing more than a tactical manoeuvre brought about by Ubi's non-gamers - the suits with an eye on the company's financials - and an actual 2009 release just isn't on the board table.
07/08 has already been a great year for Ubi, so why blow Haze's wad on 07/08's figures when a slight delay could ensure a great start to 08/09?
Keep in mind that an April release may be undesirable for the suits as it would pitch it against GTA4 - though April 4th release would give it three weeks with little else of interest on the shelves.